Citing Abuse, Women Ask For Clemency In Killings

By ANDI RIERDEN

Published: May 12, 1991

IN a small loft room inside the visitors center at the Connecticut Correctional Institution in Niantic, Diane Bartholomew's hands trembled and her large brown eyes filled with tears as she struggled to recount her marriage of 24 years to Harry Bartholomew. The relationship, she said, began at a roadside restaurant in rural Pennsylvania where she worked as a waitress and he "would always come in wearing his cute little baseball cap." It ended on Feb. 19, 1989, in the couple's Middlebury home, when Ms. Bartholomew fired the single shotgun blast that killed her husband while he slept.

Now serving a 25-year prison sentence for his murder, Ms. Bartholomew, 44 years old, said her husband's repeated physical, sexual and psychological abuse brought her to the point of violence. Little evidence of her history as a battered woman was introduced during her trial, she said, although witnesses could have testified in her behalf. Ms. Bartholomew, who has no other police record, said she would like the State Board of Pardons to reconsider her case in the hope that it will grant her clemency. "I just want them to know that I'm not a threat to anybody," said Ms. Bartholomew, who wore a Navy-blue linen dress and matching pumps. "I just want to tell them that I went to all the right people, and they turned me away. My intent was not to kill my husband. My intent was to get help." Ms. Bartholomew said that she was among several women in the prison convicted of assaulting or killing their batterers who believed that they were tried unfairly and would like to see their cases reviewed. In response, representatives from several advocacy groups for battered women in Connecticut have recently begun investigating whether some women in prison might benefit from a review of cases in which evidence of abuse would be presented.

"We're looking at how cases were initially handled and whether the battered woman was able to use the claim of self-defense as part of her defense," said Anne Menard, the director of the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence and coordinator of the clemency project. She said 10 to 25 women serving sentences in the Niantic prison may be eligible for clemency. Assaults Endured from Childhood

Ann Koletsky, a program coordinator for the Connecticut Prison Association, said that of the 600 inmates at Niantic, nearly 90 percent have histories of physical or sexual abuse.

"Woman after woman that I interviewed have lived lives laced with assault from the time they were little girls," Ms. Koletsky said. "Many just think that's the way life is."

Members of the clemency project include Joyce Bunch, the first woman to receive executive clemency in New Jersey for suffering from battered-woman syndrome. In 1984, Ms. Bunch was sentenced to seven years in prison for the nonfatal shooting of her fiance, Donald Hicks. She said the incident occurred after several years of abuse by Mr. Hicks that at times left her unconscious, disfigured and, in one instance, temporarily paralyzed. Since her release from prison in 1985, she has worked as a counselor at the New Horizons shelter for battered women in Middletown.

Ms. Bunch and others who work with victims of domestic violence said that women in abusive relationships often lose their self-esteem, feel isolated and trapped, and, as the abuse escalates, may see violence against the man as the only escape. Every year, 500 to 700 women in the United States kill men who have abused them, according to the National Clearing House for the Defense of Battered Women.

Gov. Richard F. Celeste of Ohio granted clemency to 25 women shortly before leaving office in January. In February, following his lead, Gov. William D. Schaefer of Maryland commuted the sentences of eight women convicted of killing or assaulting their batterers. Both Governors have since been criticized by criminal-justice officials for not including evidence from trial transcripts that may have led them to a different conclusion. Governor Schaefer and Mr. Celeste have denied the charges, saying their review processes were thorough and balanced.

Prosecutors throughout the country have expressed concern that such grants of clemency may encourage women who have never been abused to say that they were battered to avoid criminal charges for their violence. But Ms. Menard stressed that the Maryland and Ohio experiences will influence investigative efforts in Connecticut. "It's in our best interest not to do something quick and flashy," she said.

In Connecticut, the State Board of Pardons decides whether to grant petitions for clememcy, said Avice Meehan, a spokeswoman for Governor Lowell P. Weicker Jr. She said Mr. Weicker is planning to appoint a new board soon.

In a telephone interview from her office in Worcester, Mass., Angela Browne, an expert on domestic violence and the author of "When Battered Women Kill" (Macmillen Free Press, 1989), said she was encouraged by clemency projects in Connecticut and elsewhere. "If we are to afford justice to our citizens, then there should be a serious investigation of the context of a person's actions no matter who the perpetrator is," she said. 'He Would Have Killed Me'